REFLECTION: 22.03.2021 TED X Bakita Kasadha

"I AM"
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​"In this deeply thought provoking and personal talk, HIV activist Bakita Kasadha shares her experience overcoming self-stigma. By doing so, she encourages us to rewrite our own narratives to achieve our full potential." - TEDx

"the words you use, what do they say about you, because language is powerful."

Bakita asks us to think carefully about what we say as it creates our narrative/ story and this has an impact on our identity not only in terms of how we are perceived by others, but how we perceive ourselves. She speaks of the power of words.

Thinking about telling our story, I was really taken by how Bakita captivates her audience and manages to tell her story eloquently delivering her truth in a quiet, considered, slow and natural way. 

How can this be facilitated within a healthcare setting? By creating the right comfortable, quiet environment, by allowing patients time to think before we speak rather than feeling "caught off guard", by allowing enough time to be listened to and heard. 

"apologising for speaking" is a habit I know all too well. In moments of pressure, (when talking to a psychiatrist or a therapist) when there is a lot depending on my words, anxiety and imposter syndrome set in and my filters take hold, I begin to feel embarrassed, unworthy of help and that I have no right to tell my story as I am inferior to the expert sitting in front of me. This changes my narrative and alters my outcome, my diagnosis, my treatment and puts my health in the balance. 

"the words we use can either cap or create our potential" 

When it comes to a patient sharing their own narrative, how much needs to be shared? Should we have agency over this? Are we making the best decision for ourselves? 

"tell your story on your own terms, you do not need to cut yourself wide open to share it." 

"What I held as truth yesterday, is not what I hold as truth today." 

Things change, our experiences day to day, moment to moment reframe our thinking and this is not captured within our medical records. We cannot un-write what is written, there is no flexibility to change the records to reflect us now, in this moment. Our past follows us around and determines how we are seen in the present. One of the most profound parts of this talk for me was the message behind Bakita's closing poem: it is "I am" that is important, not "I had", "I was" or "I will be" but the importance of individual moments in the here and now. 

Communicating via poetry / performance is powerful. This footage is a fine example of the power of creativity in storytelling. 

SEE MORE OF BAKITA'S WORK HERE

AUTHOR: SARAH
QUOTES: BAKITA KASADHA